New York City announced that thousands of Fire Department of New York (FDNY) firefighters and medics have returned to work after COVID-19 exposure.
Earlier this week, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters that more than 2,000 members were out sick amid the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, the FDNY’s official Twitter account announced that 1,310 EMTs, paramedics, and firefighters who reported testing positive for COVID-19, were exposed to the virus, or were suspected of having COVID-19 had returned to full duty.
The pandemic’s death toll in the city continued to surge, with the New York Post reporting that more than 3,500 had been killed by coronavirus complications. The Associated Press noted that this death toll was already greater than the number of people killed during the 9/11 attacks.
Additional, several news outlets noted that many “probable” coronavirus deaths were not being counted in the official New York City tally. The Post noted that this was because these victims had expired at home and not been tested for the virus.
Elsewhere in the country, the Chicago Fire Department lost a firefighter to coronavirus complications while an assistant chief in Pennsylvania died last week from COVID-19.
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